President Joe Biden said he was “heartbroken” when he said 36-year-old Black woman Sonya Massey “should have been alive today” after she was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in her kitchen in Springfield, Illinois, on July 6.
Massey had called 911 to report a burglar on her property, about 200 miles south in Illinois. After two Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputies canvassed the area, they went inside to talk to Massey, the news release came after the release of the gruesome bodycam footage of the incident.
During a brief, seemingly friendly conversation, where Massey held a pot of boiling water, Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson shot the woman to death after she made a comment about “rebuking him in the name of Jesus.”
Massey’s daughter has confirmed that The guard that her mother was paranoid-schizophrenic.
The latest statement is the first Biden, 81, has made since he shocked the world on Sunday by announcing he will not run against Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Biden’s Vice President, Kamala Harris, 59, appears likely to earn the Democratic Party nomination after she received the support of most of the party’s top figures, including Biden, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson’s gun drawn as Sonya Massey takes cover in her kitchen on July 6
Sean Grayson faces up to life in prison if convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct
Massey’s family held a funeral for her on Friday, accompanied by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump
“When we ask for help, as Americans, we should all be able to do so, no matter who we are or where we live, without fear for our lives,” Biden wrote in reference to Massey’s death.
“Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that Black Americans too often face fear for their safety, while many of us do not.”
Last week, Grayson pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and government misconduct.
The bodycam footage confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson shouted at Massey from across the counter to put down a pot of hot water.
Then he threatened to shoot her. Massey ducked, stood up for a moment, and Grayson fired his gun at her.
When officers first approached the house, they saw a black SUV with broken windows in the driveway.
It took Massey three minutes to open the door after the officers knocked. She immediately said, “Don’t hurt me.”
She seemed confused as they spoke at the door, repeating that she needed help, referring to God and saying that she didn’t know who owned the car.
Inside the home, officers appeared agitated as she sat on her couch and searched her purse while they asked for identification to complete a report before leaving. Grayson then pointed to a pot on a flame on the stove.
“We don’t need any fire here,” he said.
Massey immediately stood up and walked over to the stove, placing the pot near a sink. She and Grayson appeared to laugh at her pot of “steaming hot water” before she unexpectedly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“You better not do that or I swear to God I’m going to shoot you in the face.” He then pulled out his 9mm pistol and demanded that she drop the jar.
Massey said, “Okay, I’m sorry.” In Grayson’s bodycam footage, he pointed his gun at her. She ducked and put her hands up.
Grayson was still in the living room, facing Massey and separated by a countertop that separated the living room and kitchen. Prosecutors have said the separation gave Grayson both “distance and relative cover” from Massey and the pot of hot water.
After Grayson shot her, Grayson discouraged his partner from grabbing a first aid kit to save her.
“You can go get it, but that’s a headshot,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do, man.”
He added: ‘What else are we going to do? I’m not going to pour hot, fucking boiling water in my fucking face.’
When he saw that Massey was still breathing, he relented and said he would get his kit too. The other officer said, “We can at least try to stop the bleeding.”
Grayson told responding police, “She had boiling water and she came at me with boiling water. She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and she came at me with boiling water.”
An officer’s bodycam shows Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson outside Sonya Massey’s door on July 6 after she called them to report a burglar.
Once inside, Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson began arguing with Massey over a pot of boiling water on the stove and raised his gun
Grayson is seen peeking around the corner of the counter approximately 30 seconds after he first opened fire
Massey’s death has sparked massive protests in the city of Springfield
At a press conference Monday afternoon, the family’s attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, called Grayson’s “revisionist” justification “disingenuous.”
“She needed a helping hand. She didn’t need a bullet in the face,” Crump said of Massey.
When asked why Massey told Grayson, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Crump replied that she had been undergoing treatment for mental health issues.
He noted that from the beginning of the meeting she called on the name of God and asked for her Bible after the delegates filed in.
At Massey’s funeral on Friday, Crump said the video, which he and his family had already viewed, would “shock the conscience of America.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, demanded that the county court system be fully open about the investigation and prosecution, and transparent with the public.
“The only time I’ll ever see my baby again is when I leave this world,” Wilburn said. “And I don’t want anyone else in the United States to ever come to this competition again.”
Grayson, who was fired last week, is being held without bail in the Sangamon County Jail. If convicted, he faces 45 years to life in prison for murder, 6 to 30 years for assault and 2 to 5 years for misdemeanor assault.
His attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday.
Massey’s death is yet another example of the murder of black people
in recent years by the police in their homes.
In May, a Hispanic Florida sheriff’s deputy fatally shot Roger Fortson when the senior Air Force officer opened the door of his Fort Walton Beach home with a gun pointed downward. The deputy, Eddie Duran, was fired.
In 2019, a white Fort Worth, Texas, police officer shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home after responding to a non-emergency call reporting that Jefferson’s front door was open.
Aaron Dean, the former officer, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.
In 2018, a white Dallas police officer shot and killed Botham Jean, who was unarmed, after mistaking his apartment for hers. Amber Guyger, the former officer, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In each of these cases, Crump has represented families in his effort to seek accountability for the killings of black people by police.
Crump also represented the family of Earl Moore, a Springfield man who died after being strapped facedown to a gurney in December 2022. Two first responders are charged with murder in that case.